Cyclones sweep Mustangs in baseball

 HARLAN (May 29) -- The Harlan Community baseball team improved to 4-0 Wednesday night, sweeping Shenandoah 8-0 and 24-7 in a Hawkeye Ten doubleheader played at Jim Goeser Field.
 The twin bill was scheduled to be played at Shenandoah but was moved to Harlan due to heavy rains in southern Iowa. The Mustangs were the home team in both games.
 Game one saw the sixth-ranked (3A) Cyclones pull away in the late innings after leading just 1-0 through four. Brett Sears clubbed a two-run home run to cap a four-run fifth and Tyler Schaben singled home a run in a two-run seventh.
 Sears (2-0) was dominant on the mound, striking out 13 batters in five hitless innings with two walks. Using mostly his fastball, Sears struck out the first seven Mustang hitters of the game. Tyler Schaben and Trey Gross both pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
 Connor Bruck led HCHS at the plate in game one, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Sears and Luke Schaben both had two hits and Brenden Bartley added a double.
 The night cap got ugly in the end as HCHS plated 13 runs in the top of the seventh to win 24-7. The game nearly ended after five, but Shenandoah scored two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to cut an 11-1 deficit to 11-7.
 Riley Kohles (1-1) pitched four quality innings for the win, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. He walked one and struck out four.
 Sears ended up having a huge game at the plate with seven RBI, capped by a three-run homer in his last at-bat. He also had a double as part of a 4-for-4 game with three runs scored.
 Connor Bruck (2 doubles), Joey Moser (1 double), Brenden Bartley (1 double) and Isaiah Ahrenholtz all had two-hit games for HCHS and Luke Schaben added his second double of the night.